Air India flight 171, en path to London from Ahmedabad, India, crashed after takeoff on Thursday, killing greater than 200 individuals. The aircraft was a Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 jet. Following experiences of the crash, Boeing shares toppled about 5%, halting a monthslong inventory rally reflecting the plane producer’s restoration from years of air-safety scrutiny.
Boeing shares have fallen greater than 5% following a lethal crash of an Air India flight on Thursday, which killed greater than 200 individuals.
Air India flight 171 was a Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 jet leaving the Indian metropolis of Ahmedabad en path to London, the airline stated. The passenger aircraft contained 242 people, together with 230 passengers and 12 crew members. Nobody is predicted to have survived the crash, in line with Ahmedabad metropolis police chief G.S. Malik.
Officers haven’t stated the reason for the crash, which might take months or years to find out.
“I want to categorical our deep sorrow about this occasion,” Air India CEO Campbell Wilson stated in a video posted on social media. “It is a tough day for all of us at Air India, and our efforts now are centered fully on the wants of our passengers, crew members, their households and family members.”
“We’re involved with Air India concerning Flight 171 and stand able to assist them,”a Boeing spokesperson instructed Fortune in an announcement. “Our ideas are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”
The catastrophe marks the tip of a inventory rally from the aircraft maker, which started in April as the corporate doubled its plane deliveries from the yr earlier than. Momentum continued to construct in Could, when Boeing secured greater than 300 new orders and produced 38 new 737 MAX jets.
Boeing’s current share-price climb marked a departure from greater than six years of struggles with manufacturing and security issues. In 2018, Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed into the Java Sea after departing from Jakarta and killed 189 individuals. Ethiopian Airways flight 302, the identical Boeing jet mannequin, crashed months later and killed 157.
Final month, the Justice Division reached a cope with the aircraft producer, permitting it to keep away from legal prosecution for allegedly deceptive U.S. regulators in regards to the jet mannequin previous to each lethal accidents. The Justice Division will drop its fraud costs as long as Boeing pays a $1.1 billion high-quality, in addition to $445 million to the crash victims’ households.
The Dreamliner 787 plane, till Thursday, had by no means skilled a deadly crash however has been underneath scrutiny for years. The Federal Aviation Administration halted manufacturing of the plane in 2021, simply 10 years after the mannequin was launched, after discovering a producing flaw. Although manufacturing resumed the subsequent yr, Boeing whistleblowers have raised issues in regards to the Dreamliner. Longtime Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour filed a criticism to the FAA and instructed Congress in April 2024 that the pores and skin on the Dreamliner jets weren’t fixed appropriately, placing them in danger to interrupt aside.
Boeing didn’t reply to Fortune’s inquiry in regards to the security of the Dreamliner 787, however final yr denied Salehpour’s allegations and defended its security and high quality testing.
“I’m doing this not as a result of I need Boeing to fail,” Salehpour beforehand instructed reporters, “however as a result of I need it to succeed and stop crashes from occurring.”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
